It’s a good question. A lot of us have wondered the same thing. Not surprisingly, Tucker came away from his inquiry with no answer.

Tucker also wondered how it came to be that CNN happened to have a reporter and a crew staking out Stone’s home just in time to catch the predawn raid live for the continuing Trump hatefest that the network has run for the past two years. He reported:

CNN reacted angrily to the suggestion [that it been tipped]. We’re reporters, they said, not state media. We didn’t collude with the feds. We used reporter’s intuition.

On Sunday, CNN president Jeff Zucker dispatched his minions to bat down further questions.

“On the right, on the fringes of the right, a conspiracy theory spread about CNN or Robert Mueller, ” said Oliver Darcy, CNN’s senior media reporter. “They say this would be done to embarrass Roger Stone and to record his arrest to embarrass him. They’re saying it was propaganda … A lot of people, including mainstream commentators and journalists, started asking questions about this conspiracy theory and as journalists we have to be very careful not to allow bad faith actors to hijack the conversation and move the story away from what it really should be.”

Save that tape. It’s one for the ages because it summarizes everything. So, to recap: “We journalists” says CNN, need to fight back against the “fringes of the right” who want to “move the story away from what it should really be.” CNN decides what it should really be. And if you don’t agree, you’re on the “fringes of the right.” In other words, shut up, you guys. Stop asking questions we don’t feel like answering.

But this show persisted, because that’s our job. We asked both CNN’s official spokesman and the kid you just saw playing media reporter a very simple question: Did Mueller’s office help you with your story. The response, of course, was feigned outrage. How dare you! You’re right wing! Be quiet!

But when we kept pressing them, an interesting thing happened: They didn’t deny it. Here’s the specific question we asked: “Did federal law enforcement officials confirm the raid on Roger Stone’s house to CNN before it happened?”

Very simple question. And when we pressed it, CNN dropped the fake outrage….

It’s not the most important mystery of the Mueller probe, but it is telling in its symbolism.